Batting

Spartanburg, S.C. – Zac Manuppelli pitched 5.2 innings of scoreless relief and USC Upstate won its third straight game with a 6-2 victory over The Citadel Tuesday afternoon from Harley Park.

Manuppelli scattered four hits and struck out seven to improve to 2-0. Daniel Seeba came on to record the final out of the game to earn the save. The Citadel starter Kevin Connell (0-1) took the loss after allowing three runs on six hits in three innings of work.

Upstate (3-2) jumped out to an early 2-0 lead when the Spartans struck for two runs in the bottom of the first inning. Daniel Fickas led off the game with a single to shortstop and moved to second when Erik Samples followed with a single to left field. Tyler Lesch moved both runners up one base with a sac bunt before Luke Weber smacked a single to center field to bring home Fickas. Zach Krider later grounded out to third base to drive in Samples from third.

The Spartans tacked on another run in the second inning to open up a 3-0 lead. Dowling started the inning with a double to left and came around to score three batters later on a double down the left field line from Fickas. Dowling finished the game 3-for-4 with one run scored and one RBI and is now hitting .615.

The Citadel (2-2) answered with two runs in the top of the third to cut the Upstate deficit to 3-2. Mason Davis drew a walk to open the inning, stole second base and then took third on an Upstate throwing error. Hughston Armstrong followed with a single to left field to drive home Davis, and Tyler Griffin added an RBI single two batters later to account for the second run.

Upstate added some insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh to build its lead to 6-2. Samples got things going with a one-out single to center field before stealing second base. After Lesch worked a walk to put runners on first and second, Samples advanced to third on a fly out by Weber. Lesch moved into scoring position thereafter when he swiped second and came around to score on Krider's two-run single to right. Krider now leads the A-Sun with 10 RBIs.